Once Upon a Dream
by Praetor of Rome
Summary: Silena and Beckendorf never believed that hope was useless. It kept light in their lives even when the going got tough. Written for PJO Ship Weeks.


**Happy Silena/Beckendorf week two weeks late! (Better late than never? Maybe? Yes?) And actually I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks, so I'm trying to get my stories for those ship weeks up tonight. *fingers crossed***

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series.**

* * *

"Daddy, will I be pretty like Mommy when I grow up?" Silena posed in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, adjusting a flower in her hair.

She missed her father's brief flinch before he scooped her up and swung her onto her bed.

"You are my beautiful baby girl, and you are always as pretty as your mother was." Anthony Beauregard pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "And now you have to get dressed and brush your teeth."

"Okay." Her sigh quickly turned into a squeal as he swung her back off her bed and onto the floor.

"Breakfast in ten minutes!" Anthony grinned at her as he headed out of the room.

"Pancakes?"

"Of course!"

As her dad left the room, Silena hopped over to her small dresser and pulled out a pair of leggings and her new purple shirt. After dressing, she stole another glance in the mirror. Her daddy always said she was pretty, but was it really true? He'd once said that Mommy was the most beautiful woman he had ever met.

Silena tugged on her hair, wishing it could be longer or shinier or curlier. What had her mother even looked like?

As she skipped into the bathroom to brush her teeth, she vowed that one day she would make her mommy proud.

Wherever she was.

* * *

"Don't be bothering the customers now!"

"I won't, Ma!" Eight-year-old Charles Beckendorf darted around one of the cars at the auto repair. A few months ago he'd found a little storage room in the back perfect for hiding scraps of useless metal and old washers for tinkering.

He knew his mother would be furious if she found out. _Or worse, _he though. _If Ken catches me. _His mom's coworker normally had different shifts, but he was a snooty pain in the butt.

Charles dashed into his little sanctuary and started twisting wires together. His mom would always act grumpy at how he spent most of his time building little things, but he could tell that she liked it when he presented her with a new gadget.

"You're just like your father," she murmured once, and it stuck in his head.

"I'll make something huge one day," he whispered, clenching his teeth. "Something that'll make us rich and help lots of people."

Charles kept fiddling with the wires.

* * *

Drew flopped back on her bed, kicking her shoes off. "I can't stand these heels."

"Heels help you stand up straighter, look more sure of yourself," Silena countered, carefully straightening her sheets.

"Maybe for you," Drew scoffed. "You're definitely model material."

The thirteen-year-old girl smiled, pulling on a delicate curl. "I'm not planning on going into modeling. Unless I need the money."

"Why not?" Grabbing a stack of magazines from the side of the bed, Drew started flipping through them with one hand. With the other she rummaged through the top drawer of her nightstand for some lip gloss.

"I want to spend time socializing with people," Silena shrugged. "I don't want to be seen and not heard."

Drew pursed her lips like Silena had made a good point. "There's no danger of me being seen and not heard, though."

"Mmm, that's for sure." Truthfully, she worried about Drew's powerful charmspeaking abilities, but for now the demigod hadn't really used them for harm.

"What do you want to do then?"

"Maybe a marriage counselor or something." Silena sighed, brushing a non-existent dust off her comforter.

"Helping people stay together? Where's the fun in that?" Drew placed her lip gloss back in the drawer and sat up, studying a series of spring outfits. "I want to do this."

"Look at magazines?"

"No." She rolled her eyes. "Design clothes, put together outfits. Make a name for myself."

"I bet you'll be famous one day."

"And you'll be stuck listening to people's problems," Drew smirked.

Silena smiled tightly. As much as she cared about the "neat and perfect" appearance part of the Aphrodite cabin, she did get the sense that her ambitions were a little different than most.

* * *

"Toss me the pliers," Beckendorf called to Jake.

"Sure."

He squinted at the broken piece of machinery in front of him, noting where the screws and bolts were. It wouldn't be a difficult fix, just one that required a lot of tedious work.

"What're you up to?" He nodded at his half-brother, who was doing some delicate work with celestial bronze cords.

"Birthday present for Christopher," Jake grunted, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Shoot – aw man, I-"

"Relax. You've still got three weeks. I'm just procrastinating."

"On what?"

"Arrow request from Michael Yew." He grinned. "Boring."

Beckendorf rolled his eyes. "I'll do the arrows when I'm done with this."

"Really? Man, you're the best."

"Yeah, well, you seem pretty absorbed in what you're doing." He shook his head with a laugh.

"Michael will be happy. You're the better smith anyways." Jake had moved on to studying three interlocking gears.

"Not true." Beckendorf finished his work with the pliers and dribbled some oil on the metal.

"Yes, true. You'll be head counselor soon enough, I'd bet my illegal TV on it. And then you'll be one of those cool camp alumni that come back and wow all the younger kids and give them toys and candy."

"I wouldn't mind being head counselor. I don't know about giving candy though. I highly doubt demigods need any more sugar." He scratched his chin, smearing it with oil. "But Chiron's going to sniff out that TV sooner or later."

Jake shrugged. "The Stolls and Lou Ellen pay for the hours they watch it. At least I'll still have the extra cash."

Beckendorf snorted. "As long as Mr. D doesn't turn you into a shrub."

"He wouldn't."

"Never bet against it."

Jake muttered something under his breath and joked, "Maybe I take it back about you being the cool camp alum."

"No you don't."

"Nah."

As the two Hephaestus kids returned to their work, Charles Beckendorf thought about having to look after all his half-brothers and sisters, shepherding them from activity to activity and showing the new kids the ropes. Coming back even as he got older to share stories from the good old days and praise his siblings for their new inventions no matter how small or large they were.

Not something bad to hope for.

* * *

"Wow."

Beckendorf blinked in surprise. Silena Beauregard was watching his metal fireflies buzz into the air, lighting up every now and then. Aphrodite and Hephaestus were scheduled for the forges at the same time, but he hadn't realized any kids from the other cabin were actually paying attention.

"They're beautiful." She moved closer, giving him a warm smile.

He frowned. He was proud of them because they were highly practical and he hadn't thought he'd be able to pull off the concept. But he didn't see them as necessarily beautiful.

"They're actually tied back to a set of controls that can be used to send Morse code messages using the flashing lights," Beckendorf explained. "The system isn't fully developed, but it could be useful someday."

Silena rolled her eyes. "Fancy gadgetry aside, they're a piece of art." Her eyes followed the little artificial bugs as they drifted across the forges, occasionally flying around another camper.

"Never really thought of them like that…" He scratched his arm.

"You need to learn to appreciate beauty more." She tapped her chin.

_Not everyone's mushy gushy like the Aphrodite kids_, he thought.

"Oh?" he managed.

"_Yes._" She rested a hand on his arm and pointed at one of the nearby fireflies. "Fireflies are like little beacons of hope flying out there to brighten up our nights. And you just made more of them." Silena's smile widened as she looked up at him. "But to be fair, I never really realized that machines could be so natural. So beautiful."

His breath caught in his throat, and Beckendorf fumbled for something to say. He cursed the poor people skills of most Hephaestus kids.

"I guess some of the more delicate metalwork could be seen as art," he tried. She nodded, withdrawing her arm and tilting her head at his workspace.

"What else are you working on?"

As he stumbled through an explanation of one of his side projects, Beckendorf couldn't help be entranced by the way she lit up the room with her smile and genuinely listened to everything he had to say. The way she fiddled with the tips of her hair and rubbed her fingers over her fingernails. The warm shade of her eyes and the rosiness in her cheeks.

When the time came to switch activities, he was left thinking that maybe he should start trying to see the world through her eyes. Then one day he could see the beauty in the littlest things.

* * *

"My dad might want me to inherit his store." Silena leaned back on her elbows, tossing her head so the summer breeze swept through her curls.

"You like chocolate." He matched her position, nudging her shoulder.

"Mmm. I don't think I'd mind working there. I like talking to customers."

"But…"

"I don't know," she sighed. "I kind of want to go out and see the world. We get wrapped in this little bubble at camp, and I want to meet people, hear their stories, help them find their happy endings." Silena smiled. "It might be wishful thinking."

"Go do it." She raised her eyebrows, surprised at his forcefulness. He continued, "We have control over our own lives and heck, if there's a great big world waiting for you it's not going to wait forever."

Silena kissed his cheek. "You _are _a big softie. And you're getting better at giving pep talks."

Beckendort grinned, stretching out on the grass.

"Would you come with me?" she asked.

"Where?"

"Anywhere. Traveling. We could take a road trip after college or something."

He slipped his hands in his pockets. "You're still planning on having me around them?"

She was silent, and he finally gave in and turned to face her.

Silena was staring at him with a soft smile on her face. "If you'll still have me."

Beckendorf leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers as an answer.

* * *

"You can do it," she coaxed.

"I hate writing," Beckendorf reminded her, almost breaking the pencil as he tightened his grip on it.

"A lot of demigods do." Her tone was both matter-of-fact and teasing, like they'd had this argument a million times before. "Just think of all the college acceptance letters pouring in." Silena winked, spinning around on the other office chair.

"We're being a little optimistic with the pouring."

"So? We can be as optimistic as we like. You're going to get into a great college, and you'll have a wonderful time-"

"And not get eaten by monsters." Beckendorf had to force back a grin as she scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder.

"No monsters allowed at university," Silena said, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You're really bad at keeping me focused though."

"Oh well then, should I leave?"

"Excuse me, did I ever say I minded getting distracted?"

* * *

Beckendorf jumped as soft arms wrapped around him from behind.

"Silena! I thought we agreed – no sneaking up on the mechanic while he's working!"

"Sorry."

She didn't sound very sorry.

"This is actually pretty delicate work." He tried to glare at her, but she merely raised her eyebrows. "No, I'm serious. They're spy bugs. We can use them if we ever find a base of Kronos's. Blowing up buses will only get us so far."

"Alright." She pursed her lips, her smile slipping away.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just…thinking about the war."

He paused in his work for a moment to give her an encouraging smile. "We'll make it, you know. Kronos won't know what's hit him."

Silena swallowed, nodding distractedly.

"And after…" He pulled off his thick gloves, turning to face her fully.

"Yes?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I'll take you on the best date you've ever been on." Beckendorf rested a hand on her shoulder and leaned forward to press his lips to her forehead.

"That's awfully ambitious." Silena crossed her arms.

He grinned wickedly. "I like ambitious. I already have a plan."

"Oh? Then why wait so long?"

"It'll be extra special when we don't have a war looming over us." He started pulling his gloves back on.

"But what if the war…" Silena hesitated. "…goes badly?"

He shrugged. "That's another reason to plan ahead. We can show the world that we believe we can win."

* * *

Silena laughed as Beckendorf spun her around before setting her down and planting a kiss on her lips.

"Congratulations," she grinned. NYU had been his first choice because it was close to camp in case of an emergency, but it was also a really good school with a nice set of options for classes. "They'll love you there."

"Nah, they'll tolerate me."

"If that's their opinion of you, Charles Beckendorf, then I will march in there myself and set them straight."

He tugged at one of her curls, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Don't have too much fun with the pretty college cheerleaders, though." Silena kissed his nose, and he scrunched it.

"Never," Beckendorf promised. "There's only one girl for me."

Silena had signed up for classes at a community college near where her dad lived, so she wouldn't get to see her boyfriend and friends from camp as much as she'd like. She knew he wasn't much of a flirt, but teasing was almost second nature to them.

"I'll IM you every day." He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You're not rich, Charlie. What are you going to do, rob the camp store for a hundred drachmas?"

"If that's what it takes."

Silena rolled her eyes but leaned in for another kiss.

"You will be graduating and on your way to being rich and famous in no time," she said when they broke apart.

"I don't need rich and famous. Some money would be nice, but-" He shrugged. "The only reason I ever wanted a lot of money was for my mom. Now that she's…" Beckendorf swallowed, and Silena wrapped his hand around hers, squeezing it. His mother's death had been six years ago, but she knew it still hurt every now and then. "…well, I'd rather just be happy. Spending time with the people I care about." He tweaked her nose.

"You charmer," she laughed. "Fine, then you'll have a happy life and a huge family."

"Sounds good to me. Maybe not _huge, _though."

She stepped back a bit, swinging their arms. "You do want kids someday?"

He paused, clearly considering the questions carefully. "Yeah. Yeah I think I do. I like taking care of people."

"Makes two of us," she said and then blushed. "I mean, about the taking care of people part. I-"

He cut her off with another kiss before pulling back.

"You know…" Beckendorf stared at his feet before giving her a nervous smile. "I can't say I'd mind a future with you."

Her smile only faltered for a heartbeat. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know…I can't say I would either."

* * *

"_The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so…"_

"_Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across – hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true."_


End file.
